Paul Farrelly

Biography:

Paul Farrelly was re-elected MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme on May 7th 2015 with 16520 votes, taking 38.4% of the vote.

Farrelly was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, the son of an Irish gas pipe-laying foreman and former nurse. He is the first MP born and bred in Newcastle to represent the constituency for well over a century.

He was educated at the Wolstanton Grammar School (which became Marshlands High School – Comprehensive) on Milehouse Lane in Newcastle-under-Lyme, before studying at St Edmund Hall, Oxford where he obtained a BA in PPE in 1984.

After his education he worked at managerial level in the corporate finance department with Barclays de Zoete Wedd, and, in 1990 joined Reuters as a correspondent and news editor.

Farrelly was appointed as the deputy business editor with the Independent on Sunday in 1995 before joining The Observer in 1997 as the City Editor, where he remained until his election to Westminster.

Farrelly unsuccessfully contested Chesham and Amersham at the 1997 General Election finishing in third place some 16,058 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP Cheryl Gillan.

He was selected to contest his hometown seat of Newcastle-under-Lyme following the retirement of the Labour MP Llin Golding at the 2001 General Election, and he held the seat comfortably with a majority of 9,986 and remains the MP there. He made his maiden speech on 12 July 2001.

In the House of Commons Farrelly has served on several select committees including the Science and Technology Committee, he has been a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee since the 2005 General Election.

Before his election he had held elected office within the Hornsey and Wood Green Constituency Labour Party as well as in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Farrelly has been married to Victoria Jane Perry since 1998, and they have a son and two daughters. He is a member of several organisations including Amnesty International, Liberty and Greenpeace, and is a keen follower of rugby union. He speaks French, German and Italian.

Constituency: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Constituency Address: Waterloo Buildings, 79-81 Dunkirk, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs ST5 2SW

Constituency Tel: 01782 715 033

Date of Birth: 2 March 1962

Email: paul.farrelly.mp@parliament.uk

Party: Labour

Personal Website: http://www.labour.org.uk/maps/locinfo.phtml?ctid=2523

Westminster Address: Paul Farrelly MP, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA

Westminster Tel: 0207 219 8391

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Paul-Farrelly/107740942589397

Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/paulfarrellymp?fref=ts